Video Game Blog #5

Throughout my brief stint in World of Warcraft, it became strikingly clear that an entirely distinct language had developed specifically for use with the game. For instance, during level 11, when I was asked to kill and then loot the claw of a bear, I specifically remember communicating with a player. Although I could discern what he was saying, peppered throughout our conversation was what could be deemed World of Warcraft slang, which was predominantly characterized by abbreviations. When at one point he stepped away from his computer he left me with, “afk.” On his return and after questioning him, I was informed (with a bit of contempt) that it simply referred to his being “away from the keyboard.” There were other abbreviations and use of slang that made the fellow difficult to understand. Even laughter wasn’t represented through the conventional use of “haha” or even “lol” as those who utilize AIM would expect; this player used “kek” instead. I also frequently came across “pwn,” “dots,” and “noob.” In many ways, the slang that he and others used reduced the amount of time it took to type and therefore quickened the pace of the game. However, this clearly isn’t always the case as slang such as “kek” is the same amount of letters as “lol.” It became evident then that the slang wasn’t simply utilized for time efficiency but solidifying the social interactions among players. Not only can the WoW players interact with each other in real-time, (a characteristic that isn’t present in many other games) but they can also communicate in their own distinct language, a language that is unknown to those that don’t play. Their language contributed to a sense of membership among the players and as a result the players remained steadfast to it, flooding message boards and other community areas such as offices with the succinct slang.

In order to aid inexperienced players, there has also been a proliferation of websites from WoW translators to dictionaries to aid in deciphering the language. One particularly helpful website, http://www.wowslang.com/index.php, allowed me to input entire blocks of WoW slang to then be translated into English. This proved particularly invaluable in the beginning of my game play when I was entirely unaware of the language. However, as game play progressed I found myself picking up on more and more of the slang.